Luvera Law Firm Announces Expansion with New Spokane Office

Leading Eastern Washington-based attorneys Mark Kamitomo and George Ahrend to join as of-counsel

SPOKANE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Luvera Law Firm, Northwest trial attorneys known for expert advocacy on behalf of seriously injured people and their families, today announced they are expanding their regional footprint with a new office in Spokane.

Longtime Eastern Washington-based plaintiff’s attorneys Mark Kamitomo and George Ahrend also will join the Luvera team, serving of-counsel and bringing decades of experience representing plaintiffs in personal injury, medical malpractice, and insurance misconduct, among other practice areas.

“We’ve always been proud to represent our Eastern Washington clients, and this new physical location deepens our commitment to the area,” said Robert Gellatly, managing partner of Luvera Law Firm. “Mark and George are part of a small vanguard of Northwest attorneys who make an impact at the local, regional, and national levels. We are pleased to welcome these outstanding lawyers to our team, building on years of working together on meaningful, complex cases.”

Headquartered in King County, Luvera Law Firm is nationally recognized for its pursuit of a wide range of personal injury cases caused by negligent and reckless individuals, government entities and corporations. Recently, the firm team secured a $3 million verdict against Alaska Airlines on behalf of Spokane’s Kekona family, whose grandmother Bernice suffered fatal injuries when she fell down an airport escalator while in her wheelchair.

The firm represented numerous people injured in the Washington state Amtrak train derailment, securing $16.75 million and $10 million verdicts. It also recently achieved a $23.9 million verdict on behalf of a Port Townsend family whose baby suffered permanent brain injury. Luvera attorneys also recently took a client’s medical malpractice case to the United States Supreme Court to challenge the Feres doctrine and seek justice after his wife died from hemorrhaging following childbirth at a Naval hospital.

“Having worked alongside Luvera Law Firm many times over the years, I’m thankful for the opportunity to join a group of immensely successful attorneys who also share the same values and ideals,” said Mark Kamitomo. “I’m looking forward to this new relationship, and to continue to meet the needs of the Spokane community with world-class legal expertise.”

With demonstrated success in medical malpractice, nursing home negligence and product liability cases, Kamitomo’s Spokane-based firm, The Markam Group, has served as a resource for individuals and other attorneys to turn to with significant cases – many of which have prompted safety improvements in medical care and product design. Named Washington State Association for Justice (WSAJ) 2010 Trial Lawyer of the Year, Kamitomo is a member of several prestigious national and international legal associations, including Damage Attorneys Round Table (DART), the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

His notable verdicts and settlements include $9.5 million for anesthesia errors that caused brain damage and loss of an arm, $12.1 million for infant brain damage caused by a hospital and physician, $6 million for nursing home negligence of a 92-year-old woman, and $16 million for a 17-year-old high school football player who suffered permanent brain damage from a defectively designed helmet.

Among his cases, one that stands out for longevity and determination involved a wrongful death claim brought on behalf of the family and estate of a mentally and developmentally disabled woman. When Kamitomo originally filed the case, Washington state law did not allow parents to recover compensation for the death of their child unless the child had provided financial support to the parents. It was also legally impossible to seek damages for the deceased unless they were married or had children, stripping many adults of their value and rights. Over nine years, Kamitomo fought to keep the claim intact, including arguing in the Washington State Courts of Appeals on several occasions seeking justice for the woman’s family – and ultimately pursuing their claims until the Washington state legislature changed the law and allowed the case to move forward.

“We were never going to let that case go,” Kamitomo said. “I promised her mom and brother that we would keep pushing until the court told us we couldn’t pursue it anymore – and we won.”

Based just down the Interstate in Ephrata, Wash., Ahrend brings 25 years of trial and appeals experience in business and civil litigation, insurance coverage, and personal injury cases – including many with the Luvera Law Firm team. With 195 reported decisions, including 118 precedent-setting published decisions, Ahrend’s appellate work on behalf of clients and the WSAJ has led to significant advancements for community members. In one of Ahrend’s recent notable cases, Washington state courts adopted a new standard for premises liability, requiring commercial landowners to be proactive in making their properties safe for customers and tenants.

Ahrend, Gellatly and Kamitomo agree that working together, with the opening of Luvera’s new Spokane office, will provide an ever stronger platform to continue their mission for justice and meet the legal needs of community members locally and across the Northwest.

“Luvera Law Firm recognizes the potential for our justice system to make a real-world impact, and their work is centered on creating positive change in corporate, governmental, and individual behavior, which benefits not only the firm’s clients, but makes the world safer for everyone,” Ahrend said. “It’s a pleasure to collaborate with people whose work you completely trust, and I look forward to our future together.”

About Luvera Law Firm:

Luvera Law Firm is the Northwest’s premier personal injury law firm. The firm handles a broad variety of cases, including serious injuries and wrongful death caused by commercial and vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, product defects, construction site accidents, corporate wrongdoing, and insurance misconduct. Its work in pursuing accountability also creates positive change in corporate, governmental and individual behavior that makes the world safer for everyone. Learn more on its website: www.luveralawfirm.com.